Premier-designate Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) last night released another Cabinet reshuffle list.
A statement released by the Government Information Office last night said that Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wong Chin-chu (
Meanwhile, Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (
Chairman of the Council of Agriculture Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), Director of the National Palace Museum Lin Mun-lee (林曼麗), Chairman of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Yang Chung-ho (楊忠和) and Chairman of the Council for Hakka Affairs Lee Yung-te (李永得) will also retain their posts, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Chang said yesterday that party factions were not a factor in his selection of new Cabinet members.
Chang made the remarks after announcing on Wednesday that Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) would be the new Cabinet secretary-general.
The announcement came as a surprise following reports by Chinese-language newspapers on Wednesday that Minister Without Portfolio Lin Si-yao (
The changes gave rise to speculation that the replacement reflected dissatisfaction with the Democratic Progressive Party's disbanded New Tide faction, of which Lin was a member.
Former New Tide faction leader Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) yesterday dismissed the speculation.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon